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The Regions This Week
November 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Southeast Europe
Moody’s said Turkey is “one of the most vulnera- ble economies” as world growth decelerates. The rating agency is taking an increasingly anxiety- ridden view of the growth prospects of developing nations such as Turkey that “have relatively high exposures to external financing and are there- fore the most vulnerable” as growth decelerates across advanced and emerging markets.
Kosovo imposed 10% customs tariffs on all products from Serbia and Bosnia. The decision was made due to Serbia’s "negative behaviour" towards Kosovo, the government in Pristina said, and because Bosnia is blocking goods from the tiny Balkan country.
Chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov asked the parlia- ment to lift the immunity of six Bulgarian MPs suspected of corruption, most of them from op- position parties. The list includes the leader of the small opposition party Volya, Vesselin Mareshki, and two of his MPs, two MPs from the opposition Socialist Party party, and one from the ruling Gerb party.
Raiffeisen Bank will lend Romanian electric lo- comotives producer Softonice €14mn to finance the production and delivery of six locomotives, EximBank, which is guaranteeing the loan, said. Established in the southwestern city of Craiova in 1999, Softronic is the only producer of electric locomotives in Eastern Europe.
The Slovenian central bank approved the takeover of Slovenia’s Gorenjska Banka by Serbian AIK Banka. Following the decision, the Serbian bank majority-owned by businessman Miodrag Kostic will become majority owner of Gorenjska.
Dozens of Albanians protested against the dem- olition of their stores and apartments to make way for the Tirana ring road. The 27 km ring road project is aimed at solving the traffic problems in the capital Tirana.
Bosnia is seeking at least €39.3mn for its stake in Ljubija mine in the latest attempt at privatisa- tion. The government of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska has invited interested investors to bid for the state- owned 65% stake in the Ljubija mine.
The Serbian central bank kept the key policy rate at 3% for the seventh consecutive month. The last time the NBS cut the key rate, from 3.25%, was in April 2018.
Three companies are interested in investing in troubled Croatian shipbuilder Uljanik, Economy Minister Darko Horvat said. The interested parties are Italy's Fincantieri, Ukraine's Smartholding and Dutch Damen Group.
The finance ministry presented a draft law on
introducing progressive personal income and capital gains taxes in Macedonia. The aim of the introduction of the progressive tax and the mini- mum guaranteed income is to lower the gap be- tween the poorest and richest people in Macedonia.
Moldova’s pro-EU opposition parties initiated negotiations on joining forces ahead of the Feb- ruary parliamentary elections, but even if suc- cessful such an alliance is unlikely to gain a ma- jority in parliament and prevent a political crisis.
News broadcaster Euronews Group will open its first franchise channel in Albania jointly with IN Media group, targeting Albanian-speaking resi- dents in neighbouring Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia, next year.
Turkey will not ease its stance against the Syr- ian Kurdish YPG militia to meet US expectations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokes- man said. Ankara sees the YPG as a terrorist or- ganisation because of its ties to the PKK but the US has armed the YPG and is working with it in opera- tions against so-called Islamic State in Syria.